Wood Manufacturing and Finishing Apprentice

The Craft of Wood Manufacturing and Finishing

The Craft of Wood Manufacturing and Finishing covers a wide range of skills required in the production of joinery and furniture products. Areas of work include modern, traditional, reproduction, and restoration furniture; stairs, windows, doors, wood mouldings; and stains, polishes, and finishes.

The skills required are broad and varied and include:

• Working with metals, plastics, and other manufactured materials

• Use of all woodworking machines

• IT skills and CAD/CAM software knowledge for CNC programming

• Strong understanding of veneering, inlaying, marquetry, turning, carving, jig making, prototyping, and equipment maintenance

• Highly developed hand skills

At the end of the apprenticeship, the craftsperson will be able to demonstrate competence in the following:

• Orthographic, isometric, and oblique projection

• Freehand sketching

• Drawing to scale and in perspective

• Working from drawings to set out standard and non-standard wood products

• Producing common wood joints using a variety of machines

• Developing profile cutters

• Running off wood mouldings

• Making jigs and patterns for spindle moulders and routers

• Operating flat and profile sanding machines

• Evaluating abrasives for appropriate applications

• Assembling using bonding, wedging, or knock-down fittings

• Fitting ironmongery

• Planning and preparing panels

• Operating machines associated with veneering and bonding

• Programming and operating CNC machines

• Performing complex machining operations

• Applying stains and spray finishes to furniture and joinery products

• Using manual, semi-automatic, or CNC lathes to produce turned pieces

• Sharpening and setting circular saw blades

• Sharpening wide bandsaw blades and handsaw blades

• Operating manual, automatic, and CNC grinding machines

• Sharpening and shaping machine cutters

• Technical drawing

• Construction and assembly

• Veneering and bonding

• Finishing techniques

• Engaging with colleagues

• Discussing procedures and strategies

• Resolving problems early

• Keeping colleagues informed

• Keeping to agreements

• Respecting diverse customer needs

• Keeping customers informed

• Making positive contributions to team goals

• Completing tasks to the required standard

• Making proactive decisions

• Taking actions to achieve desired outcomes

• Systematically diagnosing issues

• Finding solutions to obstacles or technical problems